If the Stars so Align
by Syn'ri
Summary: Usagi has wished upon a fallen star to bring back the Shitennou, but even if she has forgiven them, the universe has not. So, as punishment, the thing they value most is stripped from each of them. What is happening? How can it be stopped? And where in the hell is Nephrite?


**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything from the Sailor Moon verse. I just have fun playing around with it.

Prologue

The universe is not so forgiving.

Humans tend to get caught up in their emotions, and the past and what they felt. But, the universe has no such misgivings. It only knows what is, and what is supposed to be. And anyone who goes against the natural order of things must be punished. Unequivocally. No exceptions.

They had forgiven. Even if begrudgingly. The universe had not.

Their princess, one day to become their queen, had made a wish, and because the universe knew what was right, it had granted it. It had granted it willingly to balance what had been undone.

But, no one had said that it would be easy, they only assumed.

* * *

They discovered them in mismatched pairs. Always without warning, and with no sense of the why or when.

And true to form, the first one show to himself was Kunzite, and to his liege no less. Nearly a year after she had made the wish on the Silver Crystal, and even though some of them had given up hope (unsure if they even wanted them back), their prince was the only one who still held faith in them. Knowing and could feel they would return to his side one day.

Of course, it would be Mamoru that would find him.

He was in his first year of residency at the hospital. Still learning and becoming familiar with the hospital when he stumbled upon him unexpectedly.

The attending doctor was lecturing, and using current patients as case studies (with their permission of course).

Mamoru was deep in scribing his notes. Hanging on every word when for some reason out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glint of silver that called to him.

He didn't understand why he was so drawn to it, but he felt himself approaching a room set-up for long term patients. The door was wide open, so he peered in. Room 3405.

It was within the cancer ward that he found his commanding general. Sitting in the quiet and staring serenely out of his hospital window. A contented look on his face as he watched the birds sing, and every lock of his silver mane gone.

A kind yet stoic man who went by the name of Saigō Koichirou who seemed to have an advanced stage of leukemia from what he'd heard from the man's physician. He was not projected to survive the end of the year.

Mamoru had been devastated and even Usagi's soothing words could not console him.

Everyone else had been surprised. Thinking that their attempts at reviving Mamoru's generals and confidants had failed. Only to find that one of them was alive, but dying.

Mamoru did not want to ask the question that they were all thinking, and he never would, so Usagi did it for him. Unable to bear seeing the love of her many lives in pain and despair.

"Ano, can't we use the Silver Crystal to heal him?"

She had asked in hopeful hesitation. Her face pleading in that Usagi way.

Knowing that everyone knew the toil it took on her, and while she would gladly risk it to see Mamoru happy, the others were not so willing.

"Absolutely not!"

Luna had said indignantly, and Usagi's face crumpled as if her heart had been stepped on. And, Mamoru, who had been silent but secretly hopeful, flinched at the response.

It was up to Artemis to lick the wound as always.

"As far as we know, the current result of General Kunzite's condition is due to the Silver Crystal, and until we can figure out why, it's too dangerous. For Usagi and Kunzite."

It left no room for argument, and other than Usagi and Mamoru, there wasn't really anyone who was willing to fight that battle anyway.

Not even Minako.

Of course after seeing Mamoru's response, the Senshi all looked to her to see her reaction.

But, she did not give them much of one. Choosing to side with Luna and Artemis much like everyone else.

Some might think that it was rather heartless of the Senshi of Love to turn her back on the man whom she once had given her heart to, but Minako was the leader of the Senshi first and a lover second.

Plus, as much as she wanted to live in her memories of her past self and Kunzite, she found that she couldn't. The past felt more like a dream rather than memories, and instead of feeling like she was a part of the things she knew to have happened, she felt like she was on the outside looking in at someone who merely looked identical to her.

That and the fact, she still held resentment at the fact that he had betrayed her.

Had betrayed all of them.

In the end, her love had not been enough.

So, it had been decided that while they would keep an eye on Kunzite, they would not approach him. Not unless he showed signs of possibly remembering his past life.

Mamoru non-surprisingly had volunteered to be the Senshi's eyes and ears. Especially since he was often at the hospital for long hours anyway. It would be easy to keep a watch out for anything significant, and a small part of him had felt obligated.

So despite everything, they allowed it. Knowing that if anything, Mamoru was loyal to Usagi above anything.

It was not long after that everyone realized that even though she feigned indifference, Minako being who she was, could not sit still knowing that the man she had such a complicated history with was alive and seemingly quite unwell.

Being the leader, she had to assess the situation for herself. At least, that was the excuse she gave herself as she marched into the hospital and signed up to be a candy striper. Her reasoning being that this was a task too great to be left to Mamoru alone.

He, however, took no offense, and simply smiled a sad knowing smile.

* * *

It would be several months before they would run into another general, and shockingly again, it was also at the hospital.

Except this time, it was at a hospital that specialized in healing the mind rather than the body.

Ami, while in the midst of pursuing her medical degree, was writing a paper on improper diagnosis and drug prescription and its effects on the balance of the brain, and one of her mother's old medical school friends had been kind enough to oblige her an interview. He was a well-known psychiatrist who had spent many years studying the brain and its neurons, and Ami had been more than lucky to be allowed a chance to speak with him.

She had been leaving his office at Tokyo General's Psych ward after a riveting and informative conversation when she heard such a guttural noise that she had initially believed a youma was attacking. Unable to fathom that such a noise could come from the lungs of a human being even as her mother's friend stood to block her with his body.

However, that seemed to be the case.

Unexpectedly, she had stumbled upon the scene of one of the many patients within the ward having what many would describe as a mental break down while the doctor had euphemized it with the term "fit".

But, it was obvious to Ami that the man was clearly unstable as patients were ushered away in what could only be described as an evacuation.

And, she was absolutely horrified. Her eyes wide in shock and her hand coming to her mouth to stifle her gasp.

He thrashed around the patient lounge with such a violence that Ami would have assumed he was possessed if it were not for the fact the guards for the most part seemed to be able to contain him if they were only allowed close enough.

He stood swinging his body wildly and grabbing whatever he could find to keep the guards at bay. Whether that be a table or a chair, which ever he could get his hands on. And he lunged his body with a ferocity that was animal like. His eyes wild and unfocused and his mouth seething and snarling. Growls tearing from his throat viciously.

At one point, he actually threw a chair, and that seemed to be his downfall since the guards seized upon his body as soon as he was weaponless. The whole time they had been cornering him, blocking his path, and slowly moving objects out of his range.

By the time he realized, however, it was too late, and he was being restrained by four or five huge men.

Normally, Ami would have condemned the excessive amount of force, but by the way the man thrashed and seemed to be able to remain on his feet, move, and push back the five men with his body alone, she conceded that it may have been needed.

It was not until a sixth guard came in with a syringe were they able to properly restrain him and brace his body against the wall.

It was at this moment her mother's friend began leading her out of their door. Their pathway to escape no longer obstructed, and Ami was finally able to get a good look at the man.

What she saw made her gasp actually sound.

It was a man with short waved hair and the most crystal blue eyes she'd ever seen. Even as unfocused and dark rimmed as they were.

His eyes roved madly as he strained against the guards until their blue met Ami's own, and they seemed to clear for a moment and…he stilled. She felt as if she was looking into the pools of the brightest sea before his body tensed dramatically and he went slack. Melting in the hands of the men who had been using all their strength to restrain him only a moment ago.

As Ami exited the building, her mind, as calculating and focused as it usually is, was everywhere.

So distracted was she, she almost missed the shame rolling off of the doctor in waves as he addressed her.

"Do not…do not blame him."

The doctor spoke quietly, and Ami said nothing as her eyes barely registered his.

"His mind. His mind is sick. He can't help himself."

The man finished with sorrowful eyes, and it was obvious to Ami that despite everything she had just seen the doctor truly did seem to care for the man's wellbeing.

So, she merely nodded, gave as sincere a smile as she could muster, before being on her way. Her hand reaching for her communicator before even fully leaving the doctor's sight.

Because the man she just saw, she had seen in her dreams, her nightmares. She had battled him to the death in the last millennia as well as the last few years.

That man was Jadeite, and she had never seen eyes so tormented.

When she had went on to tell the Senshi and Mamoru, they had not believed her. Not until she hacked into Tokyo General's records and pulled up the record of a Nishijima Joji, and everyone had been stunned.

It was him. A haggard and pitiful looking version of him from his profile picture, but how could they not recognize the face of a man that hard tormented them for months. Centuries even.

From the information they gathered from his records, he was a schizophrenic that also seemed to have delusions of grandeur, who on his good days claimed to see visions of monsters and demons while believing that he, the great general, was the only one who could stop them.

On his bad days, he either saw the people or things around him as monsters or demons, or he believed himself to have become a demon that needed to be exterminated, which made him a danger to himself and those around him.

He obviously on some level realized that since he had voluntarily self-admitted himself to the hospital almost 6 months ago, but strangely, instead of getting better during that time, he seemed to be getting increasingly worse.

Usagi had clutched Mamoru's hand through the whole ordeal. Trying to be his support, but she had felt even herself gasp once she had seen the image of him. His once illuminous wavy hair looked dull and greasy and his eyes held a touch of lunacy.

Mamoru himself stayed quiet. Introspective. His eyes down cast as Ami, Luna, and Artemis shared a troubled look. A concerning hypothesis beginning to take shape between them.

Rei, predictably, had played her part much as they had all expected. She had taken in the plight of Jadeite with such an indifference, one would think she didn't even know the meaning of the name.

Her arms crossed, back against the wall, and face neutral.

Makoto, who had never truly had even a proper conversation with the man, showed more interest in the subject matter at hand than the Senshi of Flames, and when the subject of who was going to be the one to keep an eye on Jadeite came up, Rei had gracefully walked away. Claiming she was needed back at the shrine.

She never gave any indication that she even knew Jadeite ever existed after that.

* * *

It was becoming more and more obvious to them that things were not right. Something had gone horribly wrong, but they could not understand.

Having found two of the generals was enough for them to know that the Shitennou, they were back. They were back, but not the same. They were different. Different from every incarnation of themselves that had been pressed upon them before.

It was too much of a coincidence that they would stumble upon two of them within a few months after over a year of non-stop searching. And nothing was ever a coincidence when it came to them. Ever.

The other two would be showing themselves, and the sooner the better judging by how the situation was unraveling. Luna and Artemis with Ami's support made finding the other two Shitennou priority one. Because they needed to figure out the situation as soon as possible, and fast.

Each one of the girls was taking the situation differently.

Usagi was upset and concerned even though she tried to hide it, but her feelings were not only because of Mamoru's pain. It was because, in the end, she was the one who made this wish. Because of her, something went wrong, and people were suffering. Mamoru was suffering.

The girls tried to assure her that it wasn't her fault. That there had to be something foul at play, but they had no prove. How could they know?

Ami and Rei were choosing to deal with their feelings in a detached form. Ami, who had managed to secure an internship at the Psych ward in order to watch over Jadeite, was trying to be as logical and methodical throughout the whole situation. Seeing everything as a hypothesis and case study scenario rather than deal with the emotional strain of her dead lover possibly roaming the Earth in some dilapidated state.

Rei had retreated to her place of refuge, and she seemed to drown herself in taking care of the shrine and spiritual meditation.

Minako, after being the first and most vehement in rejecting everything the Shitennou stood for and trying to take the uncharacteristically detached route, seemed to have an attitude change in the following months. Her disposition of them seemed to have softened, and she had only nodded in agreement with Luna, Artemis, and Ami when they had suggested that the Shitennou were their responsibility.

And, Makoto, she wasn't really sure how she felt. Her mind and heart conflicted since her memories had been tumbling in much slower than the others.

A part of her lived for the idea of a fairy tale. The idea that there was someone in the world who was probably her soul mate. A lover from a distant past who was reincarnated to be with her and her only. It was predictable really. Seeing as she was probably one of the biggest romantics of the Senshi.

So, yes, the idea was nice, but the application of it in their daily lives had proved to be tragic at best.

She hadn't seen it. She hadn't felt it. She didn't remember it, but the general idea was that they had been forced to kill each other by their own hands due to the manipulation of dark forces.

She would love to say that was all in the past, except she also remembered the violent way they had ended the Shitennou even in the present time. Their history was littered with violence and betrayal, which made her weary that things could ever change.

It seemed as if history had a crappy way of repeating itself, and they seemed unable to get it right…so was there no hope? Should they leave things be with Shitennou, or continue down a path that could possibly lead to destruction?

She thought on it day and night, and in fact, she was thinking on it now as she entered a café she was currently part-timing in courtesy of Motoki. He had begged for her help at one of his family's many establishments, and in exchange, she would get firsthand experience at what it took to own a business.

She had agreed simply because of that and the fact she had decided on forgoing university unlike the other girls, which meant she had time on her hands, and no idea of what she truly wanted to do.

Plus, it was rather homey and quiet. Even at their busiest peak times, so she didn't mind much.

She walked in and greeted the manager. Her eyes glazing over the display, and noticing they were running low on cookies, she went to the back and began prep.

Her muscles moved from memory, and not long, a batch of checkerboard cookies were resting in the oven.

"Kino-san, can you man the register for a bit? I just got a call from one of the vendors."

The manager poked her head in and asked, and Makoto made sure to set the timer on the cookies before answering.

"Hai, I'll be right there Miyamoto-san!"

She spoke. Dusting her hands off before shuffling to the register.

The café seemed to be a little busier than it typically was on a weekday after the lunch rush, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle.

In fact, she was taking care of customers while also keeping a mental time table of the cookies she had put in when the strangest thing happened.

She felt the presence of a customer approach her register as a shadow cast over her form. So, when she turned to them…

"Welcome to Crown Café! How can I help eeeeek…."

She felt herself squeak out in the midst of her welcoming when she looked into the face of a customer who was much too…close.

He was a strange and pale man with a long and lithe form, and a height that almost rivalled her own. Which for her was unusual, but that wasn't the strangest part.

He had leaned what seemed to be almost half his body slightly over the counter and he was…staring at her.

He was a pretty man she noticed. With delicate and elfish features that seemed feminine and almost petite for his form and long pale wheat colored wavy hair (that almost seemed to blend in with the color of his skin) that was pulled back into a low pony tail. And wide glossy lime colored eyes that seemed to drink her in.

At any other time and in any other circumstance, she may have been flattered and may have even blushed at the attention of such an attractive man. Despite the fact that he was pale as a ghost and a little _too _pretty for her own taste (who would want a man almost as pretty if not prettier than themselves), but the way he stared at her unnerved her.

His head tilting to and fro in an almost childlike motion as he studied her features thoroughly. Eyes lingering and going over her in detail. His face was so close that she could almost feel the waft of his breath on her skin. A smell of candy-like sweetness hitting her in the face occasionally.

She should have pushed him away. She should have slapped him. Done something, but his expression. The innocence there made her hesitate. There was something so odd…yet so familiar about this man.

"Zen-kun! Zen-kun!"

Came the hysterical exclamation of a middle-aged woman with short wavy blonde hair as she came sprinting towards them almost out of breath.

The man's eyes finally seemed to leave her after what felt like eternity as they turned to meet the darker eyes of the older woman.

"Zen-kun, you can't just run off like that! What if something happened to you? Mama and papa would worry."

She scolded him sweetly as her hand came up to grip his pristinely white button down. The man seemed to comprehend what she was saying as his wide eyes took on a sadness that hadn't been there before. The woman, who she assumed was his mother seemed to notice, as her hand absentmindedly begin to stroke his hair, and she smiled a sweet sad smile that almost seemed a little desperate as her eyes turned to Makoto.

"I'm…I'm…I really do apologize for his behavior. He's a very curious boy, and we just moved in the area. Please forgive any rudeness."

She bowed lowly, and the man known as Zen-kun just watched with a tilt of his head until his mother shot him a glare and slightly tilted his body in a forward bow. He allowed her too almost robotically. His eyes showing no acknowledgement of what was happening or why.

Makoto had no idea how to handle the situation, and the whole scene had been attracting attention since the man has basically assaulted her personal space.

"Ummm, it's…it's totally fine! No need to apologize. Please don't worry about it."

She spoke hurriedly. Hands waving frantically in the air as the woman finally lifted herself from her bow, and gifted Makoto with another lovely smile as she looped her arm around her son whose mind seemed to have wandered off anywhere but where they currently were. His eyes roving the café in an almost whimsical way.

"Thank you so much for your kindness. I don't know how I could ever repay you."

She spoke, bowing slightly in between words.

"No need ma'am! No need at all. Please have a nice day!"

Makoto spoke, ever the people pleaser, and as the woman began to walk away, ushering her son, who kept sneaking glances back at Makoto over his shoulder, out of the café, Makoto wondered if everything truly was okay.

Customers were staring at them as they made their exit. Different expressions of wonder, questioning, and some sneers on their faces as they left. But, the woman and her son seemed not to notice at all as they made their exit. Too entrenched in their own little worlds. His walk almost lackadaisical, and her attention fully on him.

Makoto watched them leave. Wondering what the hell that was, and having the strangest feeling in the depths of her stomach. Her eyes not leaving them even as the clear doors closed behind them and they were on their way.

She was so deep in her thoughts that the only thing that seemed to snap her out of her stupor was the sound of her checkerboard cookies becoming increasingly overbaked. But even then, her mind found itself replaying the scene over and over even though she had no idea why.

Sure, the whole thing was strange, but she had seen much _much_ stranger things in her life.

It was not until she went to sleep that night, her mind wafting into her unconscious and her past memories, did she get a glimpse of days past. And, she understood.

The tall lanky strange man she had met earlier in the day had been none other than Zoisite.

The next morning, the first thing she did was call Ami.

* * *

**Author's Note:** That was chapter one of what will hopefully be a story that is 5 chapters or less. This was supposed to be a one-shot, but as I wrote, I realized some things really needed to be fleshed out for people to truly understand. So, here's hoping that for once I don't actually be…me, and this story actually finishes itself.

Tell me what you think! My first Sailor Moon fic, surprisingly since she was my childhood superhero. But, read and review, thanks!


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